The Thunder Rolls
by mischief-maker1
Summary: Re-Edit! Re-Post! Alice is married to the abusive James. Can Sheriff Jasper save her? Or will she be forced to save herself? Based on the song by Garth Brooks. Rated M for language, physical and sexual abuse.


**Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer. If I were, the series would have had sex…and a hell of a lot more blood and gore! Also I don't own the names of the clubs or any movie titles or the songs listed in my fanfiction. They belong to whoever they belong to, just know it isn't me. All I own is a craptastic '99 Ford Explorer and enough books to choke a horse. **

**AN: So, I wrote this for-fucking-ever ago and as I was riding down the road today, this song came on the radio, so I thought, "Let's repost!" so, here it is!**

**NOTE: If, for some reason, you have NOT heard "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks, give it a listen. Look for the extended live version, which has the third verse in it. Also, youtube this bad boy! The vid is excellent, even now, however many years later!**

**Original AN: So, this came to me the other day as I was riding down the road. This song came on and I thought…"Hey! Perfect idea for a fanfic!" Now, most people automatically think Bella/James/Edward. But it's not. This is Alice/James/Jasper. Remember at the end of Twilight, how James wanted Alice when she was human? Yeah, well, they're married. And here we go…**

* * *

**Alice POV**

_Where is he?_ It was the middle of the night and the storm had been raging for hours and was getting worse. The news said it was a really bad storm blowing in. Tornados and severe thunderstorms were expected.

_**Three thirty in the morning  
Not a soul in sight  
The city's lookin' like a ghost town  
On a moonless summer night  
Raindrops on the windshield  
There's a storm moving in  
He's headin' back from somewhere  
That he never should have been  
And the thunder rolls  
And the thunder rolls **_

I shivered, despite it being August in Mississippi as I waited by the phone for any sign that my husband was okay, that he was safe.

_**Every light is burnin'  
In a house across town  
She's pacin' by the telephone  
In her faded flannel gown  
Askin' for miracle  
Hopin' she's not right  
Prayin' it's the weather  
That's kept him out all night  
And the thunder rolls  
And the thunder rolls  
**_

Where could he be? He told me he had a meeting late tonight. James was a respected member of the community. But really…this late? What could he be doing?

_**The thunder rolls  
And the lightnin' strikes  
Another love grows cold  
On a sleepless night  
As the storm blows on  
Out of control  
Deep in her heart  
The thunder rolls  
**_

My eyes flashed to the driveway as I saw the headlights turn in. Thank God…finally.

_**She's waitin' by the window  
When he pulls into the drive  
She rushes out to hold him  
Thankful he's alive  
But on the wind and rain  
A strange new perfume blows  
And the lightnin' flashes in her eyes  
And he knows that she knows  
And the thunder rolls  
And the thunder rolls  
**_

I dashed out to him and hugged him. He was my children's father. I might not love him, love what he was, anymore, but I had to stay with him for my kids. I looked up into his stormy grey eyes and they narrowed as I inhaled. No…it couldn't be. My friends had warned me of what he was doing. But I didn't want to believe it. He smelled of cheap booze, cheap cigarettes, and even cheaper perfume.

"It's that bitch from your office, isn't it?" I demanded as the tears ran down my face, stinging the cut he had left on my cheek from burning his toast yesterday morning. "What's her name? Victoria something-or-other?"

"It's none of your fucking business, Alice!" he yelled as he backhanded me, knocking me to the ground. I felt the cold, wet concrete under my butt, soaking my nightgown through.

_**The thunder rolls  
And the lightnin' strikes  
Another love grows cold  
On a sleepless night  
As the storm blows on  
Out of control  
Deep in her heart  
The thunder rolls  
**_

"Get your ass up!" he demanded as he tugged on my arm, pulling it so hard, I feared my shoulder had popped out of joint again. "Get in the house. Now!"

I let him lead me along, tears rolling down my face. What happened to the man I married? He had been so sweet when we first started dating. He loved me, he worshiped me. He had told me he couldn't let anyone else have me.

And no one else had. I had lost my virginity to James. He had been my high-school sweetheart. I had only ever been with him.

Until Jasper Whitlock had been appointed Sheriff, that is. It had started out innocent enough, but he knew…he had been a police officer in Dallas before moving here. He saw abused women. He knew what was happening to me, even if I managed to hide it from everyone else.

We both knew it was wrong, our affair, our…I couldn't say one night stand, because if I had the chance to be made love to like that again, I would do it without a backward glance. I had never felt such utter love in one physical act as I had that night, even if it hadn't been on a bed.

Since then, Jasper had begged and pleaded for me to leave James, though, he had been championing for that before _us _ever happened. But I couldn't. I couldn't tear apart my family. Megan and Brendan deserved a father. He was always sweet to the kids. He had never once raised a hand to them, not even in punishment, and certainly had never hit me when they were watching.

"Get your fucking ass in that goddamn house now, Mary Alice! I'm sick of your shit!" He pushed me through the door and I fell, a sharp pain radiating through my body. No…I couldn't let this continue. I held my arms around my stomach, protecting the life only I knew lived there.

"James, please, you've been drinking…" The smell of that cheap assed perfume wasn't the only thing I smelled on him. Cheap Vodka was rolling from behind his teeth. Ugh…the smell was nauseating.

He grabbed me, pulling me to my feet before slapping me down again. I felt the pain in my face, the blow splitting my lip this time and was thankful he hadn't decided to kick me yet. Maybe this baby would be safe…

I glanced up the stairway and saw Megan, her eyes wide with horror and I swallowed hard, praying James didn't see her.

* * *

**Megan POV**

Daddy was hitting Mommy again! I snuck back into the shadows and ran to Brendan's room. He was only three years old. I had to protect him.

What was it Aunt Bella said to do? The next time I heard them fussing and fighting and Mommy crying I was supposed to call Sheriff Jasper.

I liked him. He always had a smile on his face and made Mommy act happy. I wished Sheriff Jasper could be my daddy instead of that mean man downstairs. He didn't hurt me or Brendan, but I knew Daddy hurt my mommy. And I wished I was big enough to hurt him back. But I could call Sheriff Jasper. He would know what to do.

* * *

**Jasper POV**

My cell phone rang, waking me from the most wonderful dream. Alice and I were happy and raising her kids and that son of a bitch was dead. I blinked and looked over at the vacant side of the bed…No such luck.

I let out a sigh, and answered, saying, "Sheriff Whitlock."

"Sheriff Jasper?"

"Megan?" Why was Alice's six year old daughter calling me at three forty-five in the morning? "What's wrong?"

"It's Mommy. Daddy's hurting her and Aunt Bella said I should call you the next time it happened."

I was standing in a shot. "Are you okay?" I asked as I tugged on day-old jeans.

"Yes," she whispered. "I'm in Brendan's room with the telephone. Mommy and Daddy are downstairs."

Thank God for small favors. I snapped my badge on my shirt and said, "Okay, sweetie, you listen, okay? You hang up and go lock the door and then I want you to call Aunt Bella and Uncle Edward and tell them what you've told me. Let them know I'm on my way over there, okay? I'm going to bring Uncle Emmett too, alright?" Emmett, my deputy, wasn't really her uncle, but he loved her like a niece. Everyone in this town loved Alice and her kids, even if they didn't feel the warm fuzzies about her husband.

"Oh, okay. I like Uncle Emmett," she sighed softly.

I smiled, despite the situation and said, "Okay. Remember, lock the door, okay? Stay close to Brendan until I get there, alright?" I jammed my feet into my boots and practically ran out into the gale that was forming outside.

I could almost hear her nod as she whispered, "Please hurry. She's crying really hard."

I swallowed, strapping on my gun as I went and said, "I promise, I'll be there in just a minute, okay?"

"Okay." And with that, she hung up the phone.

Fuck…I snapped the cell phone shut, reopened it, and dialed the number I knew by heart. "McCarty," Emmett answered sleepily. We lived in a small town. I could count the number of times I had called him in the middle of the night on one hand.

"It's Alice. James is hitting her and Megan called it in."

I heard his bed squeaking and Rosalie asking who it was before he shushed her and growled out, "Fuck. Where are you?"

I slammed my truck door shut and flipped on my red light. "I'm on my way now. Meet me with the cruiser but don't use the sirens. I want this son of a bitch on a fucking platter. You hear me?"

"Yes sir. Have you called Edward?"

I blew out a breath. Alice's brother, Edward, was one of my best friends. He had welcomed me, an outsider, to town and into office with open arms. "Megan's calling him. He should be just getting off work tonight." Edward was an emergency room doc at our local hospital.

"Roger. I'll see you over at the Warrant residence."

I flipped my phone shut and gunned it down the road. Emmett was the muscle of our small department. A barrel of a man, he had once upon a time been the star player on the football team. Luckily for me, he hadn't gone to seed and proved to be quite effective in most anything. He was smart, huge, and fucking lethal, which was good, considering our department consisted of me, him, and the new kid, Seth Clearwater, fresh from the B.L.E.T. or Basic Law Enforcement Training class at the community college two towns over.

Emmett was trying to act like it was just another domestic abuse case, but he knew. Edward knew, Bella knew, Emmett knew, and, hell, I'm surprised old lady Cleary at the grocery store didn't know it, but I was madly in love with Alice.

And I had been ever since she started working at the bakery I stopped at every morning, just a few months after Brendan was born. Apparently, Councilman James Warrant wanted his wife to work to show that she was just a normal person. That they were a normal family.

What total and utter bullshit. I knew almost immediately that she was being beaten. I had tried to talk to her about it, but she refused to discuss her and James' personal lives. So, we began talking about this and that. I made it a point to go in at least twice during the day for my coffee, for a doughnut that I didn't eat, for a soda…whatever, just so I could talk to her.

It wasn't until seven weeks ago when James had gone off on business for his company, (he owned the only advertising agency in town) that our relationship grew. She was walking out of the grocery store and her bag broke. It was a typical romance sort of thing; I bent to pick up an orange that had rolled under her car. She bent at the same time and we bumped heads.

She offered to fix me dinner at her house since Bella and Edward had the kids. Apparently they wanted to spend the night with their cousins, so she had the place to herself.

I stupidly agreed, and before I knew what was happening, we had downed a bottle of wine and made love right there on the kitchen table. It was wrong. Even if James was an asshole, still, she was married to him and I had caused her to commit adultery.

But I knew, in some small part of my mind, I knew she reciprocated my feelings. Maybe now, if I caught him in the act, she would press charges. Maybe now she would finally get out from under his abusive hand.

I would wait forever for her if that's what it took, but I didn't want her hurting anymore.

* * *

**Alice POV**

The beating quickly accelerated to rape, like it always did and I was crying my eyes out when he finally came in me. It was easy enough to look at it with a clinical detachment. After all, it happened every time he got drunk. But luckily for me, this time, at least, he had yet to punch me in the stomach. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let James kill Jasper's child.

Because that's whose it was. There was no doubt in my mind. We hadn't used protection that one glorious night we made love, and James was always insistent on using a condom. I just prayed I could figure out a solution to this before a beautiful blonde Whitlock came out. James would kill me. I had to do something before that happened.

I had to end this. Now. Tonight. Surely the bruising and the rape would be enough to make it a justifiable homicide. Because one thing was for sure; if James couldn't have me, nobody could, and I wouldn't live if he did. He would find some way to kill me.

_**She runs back down the hallway  
And through the bedroom door  
She reaches for the pistol  
Kept in the dresser drawer  
Tells the lady in the mirror  
He won't do this again  
Cause tonight will be the last time  
She'll wonder where he's been**_

He fell off of me and rolled to the floor. I sprang from the couch as quickly as I could and I heard him growl from behind me as I ran down the hallway to our bedroom. The pistol…he always kept it in his sock drawer in case of intruders. Edward had shown me how to load and shoot a gun when we were in high-school. Thank God for my brother…

"Alice! Get your fat ass back here now! Don't make me come after you!"

_Shit…I've got to hurry…_my fingers fumbled with the bullets and I managed to get three into the holes of the revolver before snapping it shut and making sure the safety was off.

_Tonight you're going to die James. You are not going to hurt me anymore…_

_**The thunder rolls  
And the lightnin' strikes  
Another love grows cold  
On a sleepless night  
As the storm blows on  
Out of control  
Deep in her heart  
The thunder rolls  
**_

I took a deep breath and slid the gun into the pocket on my gown. I hated the fucking thing. But James said that the flannel made him hot. Not lace, not satin, but flannel. Weird. Tonight would be the last time I would ever wear flannel again. I wouldn't even let my children wear flannel after this. If we fucking froze to death, the horrid fabric would never touch our skin again.

I walked slowly back down the hallway and smiled at him. "Sorry, dear," I cooed softly. "I just wanted to be presentable for you."

He walked over to me and backhanded me once more. "You fucking pig. Look at you. Your face is streaked with tears, you've got cum all over your gown, and your hair is a mess. You think this is presentable?"

He hit me with his fist and I think my eye socket shattered. But I stood firm and smiled at him.

Confusion was etched all over his face. I was normally cowering in fear at this point. I had thrown him off his game. "What?"

"Nothing…" I took my hand from my pocket and aimed the gun at him.

He sneered. "What are you going to do? Are you going to kill me? You fucking bitch!" I didn't even have time to react as he lunged for me and the gun went flying as I felt a snap in my ankle.

_Shit…shit, fuck! Damn it! I will not be your punching bag anymore!_ We both fell to the floor and I watched the gun land on the other side of the couch. I kicked at him and felt my foot connect with soft tissue and his grip loosened on me. I crawled as fast as I could as my shoulder, ankle and face screamed in pain, toward the gun. I felt his hand grab my ankle, twisting it further and I cried out as I went down again.

I kicked out one more time and slowly crawled forward once more. I fought him pulling me tooth and nail until finally I felt my fingertips graze the cold metal.

I got away from him one more time, stood, and fired all three rounds into his chest. He looked at me, frozen in shock for just the briefest of moments before he fell down, dead, to the floor.

I let out a scream and at that moment, Jasper and Emmett burst through the door.

* * *

**Jasper POV**

I made my old Ford pickup go as fast as it would, screaming down the rain-slicked roads as I hurried toward my beloved's house. I got it up to seventy-five and almost lost traction as I made the turn into her development. I felt my tires go up on the curb as I threw it in park. Emmett was just arriving as well, and we made it to her door just as I heard the shots.

I'm sure my face went as pale as Emmett's as he and I looked at each other and burst in the door at the same time as she screamed.

We ran in and I saw the most horrific sight of my life; Alice, crumpled up on the floor, the smoking gun still in her hand, staring in fascination at James' now certainly dead body.

"Oh my God, Alice!" I ran to her and cradled her as she started to wail. Emmett knew I could handle her, and ran up the stairs to check on Megan and Brendan. Edward arrived a moment later and repeated my statement as he ran over to us.

I handed her off to him to check on the kids myself, and found Emmett consoling the crying Brendan, who was scared of the noise. Megan just looked at me, tears pooling in her big brown eyes and I knelt, my arms open wide.

She let out a cry and ran to me. "It's over," I murmured, over and over again. "It's over, baby. Your Mama's safe."

"Thank you, Sheriff Jasper. Thank you," she repeated in my ear.

I kissed her temple and picked her up. "Emmett, why don't you stay with the kids? Call over Rosalie, will you?" Emmett's wife, Rosalie was only a few months along in her first pregnancy, but her job at the school had taught her how to handle the little ones.

"Sure, Jasper, I'll do that right now."

I put Megan back down and she clung to my neck. "Meg, baby, I need to go check on your Mama right now, okay? I'll come back in just a few minutes, alright?"

"You promise?"

I smiled at her and winked. "I promise. Pinky swear?"

She swallowed hard, nodded, and shook my pinky with her own.

I blew out my breath and went back downstairs. Emmett had called the paramedics already and they would be arriving momentarily, I felt certain. I looked and found Alice, who was now sitting, staring blankly ahead as she sat at the kitchen table. Her ankle was sitting, propped up on a chair next to her, wrapped in a makeshift bandage. I saw Edward on the phone, probably with the paramedics or the emergency room, and I walked back to Alice.

"Ali? Baby, are you alright?"

She looked at me, that blankness in her eyes before they melted and teared up. "Oh, Jazzy!" She flung her arms around me and I held onto her for dear life as she began to sob on my shoulder.

I rocked her slowly, savoring the feel of her in my arms. "Shhh…Ali, it's okay, everything will be fine."

"I-it's not okay! Everyone in town will think…"

"Let them think. I don't give a shit," I told her honestly. If people didn't know James was an abusive prick, they certainly would now.

She pulled away then. "Jazz…I have something to tell you. I-wanted to do it differently, better, but now…I'm going to go to the hospital and everyone will know and…"

I silenced her with a gentle kiss on her split and swollen lip. "Just tell me, Ali. It'll be fine."

She took a deep breath, wincing as some injury pained her and she whispered, "I'm pregnant."

I felt my world crashing down around me. Another part of James was growing inside of her? I don't know if I could…no. I already loved Megan and Brendan. I would love this little innocent life too. I promised myself that.

"It doesn't matter, Alice. It's fine. You know I'll take care of you. Even if you are carrying another man's child."

She smiled softly at me. "It isn't his."

I'm sure my eyes grew wider and I felt like all the oxygen had left the room. "Uh-um…would you remind repeating that?"

Her smile grew and she placed my hand on her stomach. "It's not his, Jasper. It's yours."

"M-mine?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry…I couldn't be on the pill, it gave me too bad of headaches. James always wore a condom. And when you and I made love…"

"I didn't use any protection," I stated flatly. I felt the room begin to spin. But I knew I had to man up for this. I had to be here for her. "A-are you going to keep it?" I asked her.

Hurt flashed across her face. "I made love with you, Jasper Lee Whitlock. This child is a result of that. If…if you don't want me, don't want it, I'll understand. But I damn well won't destroy it because it might hurt your chances of re-election."

I looked at her in shock. "Do you think I give a fuck about re-election? Hell, Alice…I made love with a married woman. A councilman's wife. When that news broke I was probably going to get the boot anyway. I don't give a shit who knows as long as I can be by your side through all of this. I love you, Mary Alice Brandon Warrant and I don't care who knows it."

"About damn time," Edward murmured as he walked up to us. "Come on, sis, the paramedics are here. We need to get you to the hospital and get you checked out."

She bit her lip, winced in pain, and nodded. Her voice faltered as she spoke, "You-you'll want to do a-a rape kit on me, Edward, for-for the record, and the-the evidence, I suppose. I've watched enough CSI to know what you need to-to do."

Both of us paled. "He fucking raped you?" I growled, seeing red. If it wasn't for the fact that the fucking son of a bitch was already dead, I certainly would have killed him now.

She laid a hand over mine. "It doesn't matter now. He's gone and I have you. Don't I?"

"Till forever," I told her. "Until the end of time."

* * *

**Seven months later…**

**Jasper POV**

"Come on Meg…you can do it!" I called out as she tore down the soccer field. My daughter was quite the little soccer player.

"Yes!" I cried as she got the ball into the goal, effectively winning the game. "Go, Megan!"

A smile lit her face, and instead of congratulating any of her teammates, or letting them congratulate her, she ran at me full speed, jumping into my arms. "Did you see me, Daddy?"

I grinned like a damned fool. Even though both she and Brendan were now, as of Thursday, officially Whitlock's, it still threw me for a loop when one of them called me 'Daddy'. "I sure did, munchkin."

"Where's Mommy?" she asked, looking around.

I looked around nervously as well. My very pregnant wife was standing right next to me only moments ago. I saw Brendan playing on the slide with Edward and Bella's three kids, all of whose games had already finished, but no sign of Alice. I grinned. "I'm sure she just had to go to the bathroom. Your little sister has been stretching out and taking up all the room in Mommy's tummy."

Megan giggled and I hoisted her up onto my shoulders.

"Congrats, Megan," Old Mr. Greene told her as he shook her tiny hand. "Sheriff, you've got quite a good player on your hands. Think she'll make all-star when she gets bigger? Bring us some good luck to our town one day?"

I grinned. "I hope so, Mr. Greene. Take care and don't let me see you driving after dark or I'll have to come and pick you up for church tomorrow morning. You hear me?"

He grinned a toothless grin and said, "Sonny, I been drivin' for nigh on sixty years! I know what I'm a doin'!"

I resisted rolling my eyes and said, "I'm warning you. If Emmett sees you out there wooing old Widow Barnes again tonight, I'm coming after you."

"Is that lovely bride of yours going to fix her famous beef stew for homecomin' at church tomorrow?"

I grinned. I'd smelled that stew since six this morning. "Yes, sir. And it smells up the house quite nicely. Speaking of Alice, I need to go find her. Have a good one!" I tickled Megan and walked over to Edward, who was grinning like an idiot.

"Cullen," I said cordially.

"Whitlock," he replied.

"What's got you all excited?"

"How about the fact that he knocked me up again?" Bella said grumpily.

I laughed. The story was that the two of them had been going at it like rabbits since they met when Edward left to go to college. I imagined it was a good thing they only had three, well, now four, in a few months.

"I think you need to get fixed, Edward dear," Bella cooed. The horrified looked on Edward's face was priceless.

I glanced around and still didn't see Alice. I bent down to kneel on the ground and slid Megan from my shoulders. "Meg, will you go in the potty and check on Mommy for me?"

She nodded and ran off. "I think I'll follow her," Bella whispered with a wink.

"Thanks, Bells!" I called off after her.

I stood talking with Edward for a moment before Bella, Alice and Megan emerged. "Um, Edward? We need to take Megan and Brendan with us," Bella began, her face not quite as calm as her voice.

"Why?" Edward asked.

"Because my water just broke," Alice stated.

I looked at her in horror and she just smiled. "Breathe, Jazzy. I've done this twice already. I know what I'm doing."

Sure…she did. Me? I was fucking clueless. And starting to panic. "Oh my God…what do we do? We don't have your bag…we need to get going…we need…"

Her calm hand fell to my arm and she soothed, "Jasper, focus on me. Listen, we can run by the house and get my bag. Emmett is working the station today, Edward and Bella will take the kids. I need you to be calm and drive me." She smiled. "Unless you want Bella to take me and _you _can stay with the kids?"

_What?! _I blinked. "Ali, baby, I'm…" _Horrified? Scared shitless? Not ready for this? _"I'm fine. Let's just get you to the hospital." _Fuck…I'm…God…_was there a word any more extreme than terrified? I didn't think so…but if there was, that would describe it.

* * *

**Alice POV**

Somehow, we managed to make it to the hospital and before long, Jasmine Aurora Whitlock came into this world at seven pounds, fourteen ounces despite being three weeks premature. She was beautiful and had most of Jasper's features. In fact, it was safe to say that she looked just like Jasper.

The tears were rolling down my face and Jasper's as well when Doctor Jensen put little Jasmine on my stomach as soon as she was delivered. "She's beautiful," I whispered.

"Just like her Mama," Jasper said thickly.

"Would you like to cut the cord, Daddy?" the doctor asked him.

He looked scared for a moment before taking the scissors and snipping the cord. They handed me a pink blanket and I nuzzled the baby to my breast. "She's perfect," Jasper's tone was nothing but pure awe at the miracle in my arms.

"So are you," I told him.

He looked at me with eyes filled with love and smiled. Finally, after ten long years of waiting, I had my happily ever after.

* * *

**Original AN2: I just had to get that out of my system. I hope you all liked it! No, I don't think this will be anything more than a one-shot. I could see how I could go back to the beginning and write about how they met and their affair and all, but I don't think I will. This was just something that came to me and I had to get it out to you guys! **


End file.
